


Thrilled by the Still of Your Hand

by BoudicaMuse



Category: Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Carnival, F/M, Fireworks, Fluff and Smut, Jane and Darcy are sisters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-08-19 00:42:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20200888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BoudicaMuse/pseuds/BoudicaMuse
Summary: It's the last day of the county fair and Darcy's looking for fun. She finds it in the shape of Clint, a hot carnival worker working the archery range.





	Thrilled by the Still of Your Hand

**Author's Note:**

> I have had the worst week and decided the best way to cheer myself up was to write some fluff where superheroes don't exist and everyone is younger and much less traumatized. And then because it's me, I added a healthy dash of smut in too. This fic was inspired by an actual sign I saw at my local county fair this summer. No idea if the instructor was as hot as Clint, but odds are no.
> 
> As always, I'd hugely appreciate it if you can picture comics!Clint while you read this because I definitely didn't have Renner in mind when I wrote it, but whatever, I'm not your mom.

Darcy wove through the crowd of carnival goers, trailing behind Jane and Thor. They passed a stand for deep fried oreos (gross) and another for frozen bananas (too phallic to eat in public) and turned off the main avenue of food stands onto the midway. The guy walking in front of her shifted the giant Spongebob riding on his shoulders and Darcy caught sight of a lurid purple banner that read “TRY ARCHERY.” 

Underneath it were three stacks of hay bales with archery targets tacked to them and leaning against the middle one was a tall blonde guy idly spinning an arrow between his fingers like it was a drumstick. Other than him, the range was deserted and unlike the rest of the game attendants, he wasn’t doing anything to try and attract the crowd’s attention. While the other carnival workers--Darcy thought it was probably rude to call them carnies--yelled through megaphones to be heard over the blaring music, this guy seemed content to watch the crowd pass him by. A messy, handwritten sign over to the side of the range said, “$1 per shot or $5 for 6.”

“Jane!” Darcy called out, jogging to catch up. “Jane, I need five bucks.”

“You already owe me for lunch.”

“Come on, please? You know Mom won’t let me work during the school year unless I have straight A’s, so it’s not like I have any savings. I’m totally broke until my next paycheck.”

“Yeah and I’m pretty sure you’ve already spent it. What is this even for? ”

Darcy glanced over at the archery range, where the guy was now watching her with interest, head tilted ever so slightly to the side. His lips curled up in a slow smile and he waved at her with his arrow. 

“Oh,” Jane said flatly. “You just want to flirt.”

“Well not all of us have men literally fall at our feet. Sometimes you gotta work for it.”

Jane and Thor’s meet cute had been hilarious. She’d run him over with a golf cart while giving a campus tour last semester and he’d followed her around like a puppy ever since. Darcy’s dating life during her first year at college had been less rom-com and more horror show.

“Here, Darcy,” Thor said, holding out a $5 bill. “Have fun.”

“You’re the best!” she sing-songed. Then she snatched it out of his hand before Jane could make him change his mind. “I’ll catch up with you guys at the goats.”

She made her way over to the archery range and the closer she got, the happier she was with her decision. The guy was seriously hot. He watched her approach intently with bright blue eyes and crossed arms that showed off his bulging biceps. He looked a little older than her, maybe around Jane’s age, but not old enough that the age difference would be creepy. She held out her money and he came over and plucked it out of her fingers and tucked it into his pocket. 

“You ever done this before?”

“Nope, it’s my first time, so you'll have to be gentle with me." She fluttered her eyelashes at him a little, but paired it with an ironic smile. 

He shot her a delighted grin and handed her a bow. “You right-handed or left-handed?”

“Right.” She wiggled the fingers of her right hand at him and he placed the arrow he’d been twirling in her hand. 

“Okay, so hold the bow out horizontally with your left.” He guided her carefully through nocking the arrow and lining up her first shot. “Lift your back elbow a little? You want that arm parallel to the ground.”

His hand raised like he was going to move her into position but he aborted the move and let his hand drop before he touched her. Well that wouldn’t do at all. Darcy raised her elbow a little too high on purpose.

“Like this?”

He smiled like he knew exactly what she was doing and reached out to guide her arm down. “Little lower. Now draw back the string until it hits your cheekbone, chin, or the corner of your mouth. Doesn’t matter which but you’ll wanna touch the same place every time.”

“That’s called the anchor point, right?” She pulled it back to her cheekbone because she didn’t want some gross carnival bow touching her lips and messing up her lipstick.

“Thought this was your first time.”

“I may have had an unhealthy obsession with Legolas in my youth. No practical experience, but plenty of theoretical research.” She loosed the arrow and it thwapped satisfyingly in the outer ring of the target. “Don’t judge me, archers are hot.”

He coughed a little and hid a smile behind his hand. “And how long ago would you say that youthful obsession was?”

Darcy smiled to herself and took the arrow he handed her. “Well I was nine the first time I watched the Lord of the Rings, so…” she paused deliberately just to make him sweat. “Ten years ago now.”

She shot another arrow and it hit within a few inches of the first one. 

“Not bad. What’s your name?”

“Darcy, what’s yours?”

“Clint.”

He offered her another arrow and she let her fingers purposely graze his as she took it from him, then just let it hang by her side. The shooting was fun, but she only had four more to go before she ran out of excuses to hang around and ogle the way his t-shirt stretched across his shoulders. 

“That’s very butch. Were your parents really into westerns or something?”

“It’s short for Clinton actually, and I don’t even want to know why they’d name a kid born in 1997 that. Yours into regency romances?”

“Well my sister’s name is Jane, so what do you think?”

“I think you’re stalling.”

Darcy shrugged. “Maybe I just like talking to you. I could go if I’m bugging you. Or you know, if you’re busy.” She looked around at the conspicuously empty range. All around them, the other games were populated with little kids trying to win plushies bigger than they were while their exhausted parents looked on. Clint’s booth didn’t have any prizes to win, though, unless you counted his attention and Darcy definitely did.

“I’ll get in trouble if my boss comes along and sees me flirting instead of working and he’s over at the ring toss right now.”

He said it gently enough, with just a tinge of regret, that Darcy didn’t feel like he was annoyed with how outrageously she’d been flirting with him. She didn’t want him to get in trouble though, so she nocked the arrow and lifted the bow.

“This time, try inhaling as you draw back the string, hold for a couple of seconds, then exhale on the release.”

Darcy followed his instructions, but the arrow went wide. She turned a betrayed glare on him and he held up his hands.

“That should have helped! Hold up the bow again and lock your elbow.” He circled around her, close enough that his fingertips brushed the skirt of her dress. “Okay, relax your arm just enough that the elbow is unlocked. Now press down on your upper arm. It shouldn’t move. Feel the tension in your shoulder?”

Darcy followed his directions, but she quirked an eyebrow at him over her shoulder. “You know, it’s okay if you have to touch me.”

“That’d be trouble, too,” he said, sounding frustrated. “Nock the arrow and concentrate on those shoulder muscles as you inhale, then release on the exhale like before.”

This time the arrow was still over on the right like her other shots, but it was one ring closer to the bullseye.

“Alright, I guess you know what you’re talking about," Darcy said.

Clint circled back around to her other side to fetch her another arrow. “Jesus, I hope so, or I’m gonna really regret all those hours I spend practicing.”

“How many hours a day does it take to be an archery instructor at a county fair?”

“Pfft, this part I could do with my eyes closed." He gave her a considering look that made her stomach swoop pleasantly. "Glad I didn’t today, though.” 

“What are you practicing for, then?” She shot her fifth arrow and it landed smack dab in the middle of her other three on the target, creating a nice little grouping. 

“I got a stage show on the weekends. I do trick shots, a little bit of acrobatics, that kind of thing. Kids get a kick out of it.” He shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets, the very picture of bashful modesty.

“Too bad today’s the last day of the fair,” she said. “Sounds like fun.”

He held out her last arrow. “There’s other fairs.”

“I didn’t mean for you. I wanna see this show.”

“Sorry, you gotta go to Richmond next month for that.”

She hummed noncommittally as she aimed. Richmond wasn’t that far from Culver and she’d be back at school by then. But well, she was getting ahead of herself thinking that way and anyway, who knew where he’d be headed after Richmond? The last arrow flew from her fingers and joined the others in the target.

“You wanna go again?”

“I’m out of money,” she said with a pout. Her stupid part-time job paid shit and had worse hours.

“That’s too bad. ‘Course, I could be convinced to let you shoot a few more arrows if you wanna give me your number.”

Darcy grinned, thrilled that he'd asked, but then winced apologetically when she remembered Jane. “I have to catch up with my sister and her boyfriend.”

“Oh. Sure.” His face fell and she almost laughed, but she didn’t want to hurt his feelings, just mess with him a little bit. 

“But we’re sticking around for the fireworks if you’ll be done not-flirting with people by then,” she said, taking out her phone. She opened up a blank text and handed it to him for him to enter his number.

“Midway closes at sunset today. I’ll be free.” He paused his typing. “Actually, if you want, I’ve got a pretty good spot in mind for us to watch the fireworks.”

“You’d know the fairgrounds better than me,” Darcy said with a shrug. “Give me a call when you get off and I’ll see if I can ditch my sister?”

He nodded, finished putting in his number, and they traded her phone for his bow. 

"Hey, is bossman still looking?" she asked.

Clint shook his head quizzically and Darcy leaned in and placed a lightning fast kiss on his cheek. 

"Thanks for the lesson, Clint." 

He laughed and looked down at his feet and either he'd gotten a sunburn in the last five second or he was blushing. "No problem. See you later?"

Darcy grinned and sauntered away. She sent him a quick text with just, **hey, this is Darcy.**

She wasn't expecting to get anything back, but a second later she got, **hate to see you go, but love to watch you walk away.**

Laughing, she looked over her shoulder to see Clint was indeed watching her. They waved to each other and Darcy turned back around before she ran into someone. So far, this was the best five bucks of someone else's money she'd ever spent.

* * *

"Absolutely not. Mom would kill me," Jane said, waving a fry around for emphasis.

"Jane, I'm an adult. Do you really think I've never been alone with a man before? I've gone on dates. I've even," Darcy gasped dramatically, "_had sex_."

"Yeah, but with your boyfriend who you dated for like six months first. This is just some carnie you want hook up with and never see again."

"And there's nothing wrong with that! Stop being such a prude."

"I'm not a prude, I just don't want you to get murdered and thrown in a ditch!"

Thor, who had been watching their fight like a tennis match, finally spoke up. "Jane, I know you worry about your sister. I do, too. But there are precautions we could take to make sure she's safe and still has fun."

"You just want more alone time without her tagging along," Jane said, biting down on the fry with a sullen frown.

"Yes, wouldn't that be nice?" He cupped her face with his hand and Jane instantly softened.

"Okay, I guess as long as Mom never finds out."

Darcy clapped her hands and bounced in her seat. Hell yeah. Operation: Get Darcy Laid was a go.

* * *

The sun has just sunk below the horizon when Darcy got a text from Clint asking her to meet him in front of the deep fried twinkie stand. He cocked his head when Darcy showed up with Jane and Thor in tow, but didn’t look overly bothered that they were there. Well Darcy was bothered. If he didn’t pass Jane’s sniff test, it would throw a major wrench in her plans.

"Clint, this is Jane and Thor. Guys, this is Clint."

"Hi. I need your driver's license." Jane held out her palm expectantly.

Clint squinted at Jane in askance, but took out his wallet and handed it over without a word. Jane snapped a picture of it with her phone, inspected it closely, then handed it back. 

"It's eight now, the fireworks start at 9pm, last about half an hour, and then it'll be a bitch getting out of the parking lot so we'll probably wait around for a while before we try to leave. That means I want her back at our car no later than 10:30. Do you understand?"

"Yes?" Clint said. Then he cleared his throat and shot a look at Thor who was doing his best to look imposing. "You got it. 10:30."

Jane narrowed her eyes at him in warning, then spun on her heel and she and Thor left them with a parting, "use protection!"

"Jesus Christ," Darcy muttered under her breath. She gave Clint a tight smile. "I'm really sorry about that."

"She's kind of intense."

"You have no idea. You should see her during finals week. Absolute nightmare."

"It's cool, better to have someone who cares than someone who purposely puts you in shitty situations because it benefits them." He shrugged at Darcy's questioning look. "I have a brother. He's intense in different ways."

"Sorry, sounds rough."

"Yeah.” He cleared his throat and in a lighter tone said, “how 'bout those fireworks though? You good going for a little walk?"

"I've already been walking all day. One more mile won't kill me."

"It's not that far, don't worry."

He grabbed her hand and Darcy happily curled her fingers around his as he led her through a gate that said “Employees Only.” They wandered through a maze of trailers and trucks out to what must have been the employee parking lot. The whole time Clint kept her entertained with a story about a spoiled kid he'd had the misfortune of meeting while he was waiting for the sun to go down. 

"So then the kid decides it's the arrow's fault he can't hit a bullseye and snaps the damn thing over his knee."

They stopped at a faded black pickup with Iowa plates and Clint hopped up into the bed of the pickup, then leaned down to give Darcy a hand up. He’d filled the bed with pillows and blankets and stashed a cooler in the corner.

"The parents didn't do anything to calm him down?"

"Oh, sure they did. Said he must have won something just for shooting, like all of the other booth's, right? Kid immediately calms down, just like that." Clint snapped his fingers.

"Your booth doesn't have any prizes."

"No, it does not." He popped open the cooler at their feet. “Beer, water, or soda?”

“Water’s good.” She accepted her water bottle while he grabbed a Bud Light for himself. “So what happened when they realized you didn’t have any prizes to give?”

“Little Timmy flipped out again and the mom lived up to her haircut and asked to speak to my manager. So Bob comes over and does the only nice thing he’s ever done in his long miserable life and throws the whole family out on their asses. Gotta pay for replacing the arrow on my own, but whatever, I always like an excuse to go shopping for new arrows.”

Darcy took a long sip of her water as Clint settled next to her against the back of the cab, close enough that their legs were pressed together. From here, they had a nice view of the ferris wheel, all lit up and sparkling against the dimming summer sky. They were far enough out from the crowds that the decades old soundtrack they played in the midway sounded like it was underwater. Out here, it was just her and Clint and some crickets chirping in the bushes.

“So why don’t you give out prizes?” she asked.

“Aw, it’s just a dumb power play between the games operator and the talent manager.” He rolled his eyes. “I wanted something to do on my off days. Bob, that’s the games operator, says he’ll give me space for a short distance range, but won’t fund any incentives and everything’s gotta come out of the talent budget because I work for that side of the carnival. Theresa, the talent manager, says she doesn’t have any room in the budget to help run a scam.”

Darcy gasped in feigned shock and strategically laid her hand on his thigh. “Are you saying those poop emoji plushies are worth less than the price of the game?”

“Yeah, sorry to ruin the illusion,” he said with a laugh and covered her hand with his, brushing his thumb across her knuckles. “Anyway, Theresa’s right and I didn’t really care how many people came to shoot, it’s fun just to people watch.”

“And every once in a while, flirt with your customers?”

“Yeah, that part happens a lot less than you’d think.”

“Enough that you’ve been yelled at for it before.”

“Bob’s a firm believer in pre-emptive yelling, but yeah, I’ve maybe gotten the lecture a couple times now.” He winced like he was expecting a bad reaction from her for admitting that.

“It’s cool, Romeo. I’d be incredibly surprised if I was the first girl to pay you five bucks just to try and get your number.”

“Coulda saved yourself the money and just asked. Couldn’t take my eyes off you the second I saw you.”

Goddamn he was smooth. Who just went ahead and said things like that? Part of it was the way he looked at her, though. His gaze held a promise and an answer to a question Darcy hadn’t asked yet and didn’t really feel like she needed to. They both knew where the night was headed.

“Yeah, but this way I finally got my hands on a bow.” Darcy bit her lip and paused, weighing if she wanted to ask her next question and decided to go for it. “Any chance you’re sticking around long enough to give me a private lesson?”

Clint sighed and squeezed her hand. “We’re on the road again in three days and I’ll be pushing a broom pretty much that whole time.”

“Figures. Knew I should have come to the fair earlier in the season.” Darcy watched the lights on the ferris wheel go out as the midway went dark for the fireworks. She turned back to Clint and smiled brightly. “Oh well. We have tonight, right?”

He brought their joined hands to his lips and kissed the back of her hand. “At least until 10:30.”

Darcy sighed, annoyed at Jane’s stupid curfew, and swayed towards him. “Better not waste time, then.”

He raised his hand to cup her face and brushed his thumb over her lower lip. “What about the fireworks?”

“I’ve seen fireworks before, but I’ve never kissed you.” That peck on the cheek earlier did _not _ count.

He closed the distance between them and made a liar out of her and shit, if it was that easy, she had a whole list of things she’d never done before. For now the kissing--the easy, soft slide of lips and tongues, the shared breath and the feel of his stubble under her fingertips--was enough. 

The first pop of a firework going off overhead startled them apart and Darcy stared up at the sky that had gone dark around them while she’d been focusing so intently on Clint and the way his shoulders felt under her hands. The sky lit up with another burst of light, and another, and Clint nuzzled the side of her upturned face.

“You sure you don’t want to watch?”

Darcy turned away from the light show without any regret. He was way prettier anyhow. “Is it corny if I say I’d rather feel fireworks that look at them?”

“I’ve definitely said worse, so I can’t exactly complain.” He kissed her again, this time with more heat and a simmering intent that wasn’t there before. “You wanna go to the bunkhouse?”

“How likely is someone to come out here?” They were on the very edge of the lot, nothing but a sea of dark cars around them on three sides and an empty field at their back. Mostly she liked being so isolated out there, but she also didn’t want to waste any of their preciously short time on walking back to the trailers either.

“Not very. The rest of the staff is either still working or getting shitfaced.”

Darcy rose up onto her knees and straddled his lap. “I’m good here, then.”

"Yes, you are." He skimmed his hands up over her thighs and let them rest on her hips. "I can't believe you were hiding away in town this whole time."

"I wouldn't call working at the movie theater hiding. Did you ever even leave the fairgrounds?"

"Once or twice for a beer run, but man, I gotta start seeing more movies if there's girls like you selling tickets." He placed hot, open-mouthed kisses all up and down her neck, his words a murmur against her skin and barely audible over the crack of the fireworks over head.

Darcy caught him by the chin and pushed his head back against the cab window, kissing him hard on the mouth. “Don’t be so sure there are other girls like me. You just met me.”

He smiled, slow and cocky and took her hand in his, kissing the palm. “You’re pretty unique so far, I gotta admit.”

She rolled her eyes at that, but decided to take it as a compliment and kissed him more gently this time. She sucked his lower lip between hers and let her hands skate down his chest. She tugged at the hem where it was caught in between them and slipped her hands under so she could touch his warm skin and felt the muscles there flex. She smiled against his lips at his sharp inhale.

“Cold hands?”

“It’s okay.” He pressed her hands into his stomach. “Warm them up.”

“You know, I’d be cool with it if you wanted to warm your hands up too.”

He chuckled and slid his hand up under her dress, his fingers sliding over her inner thigh and stopping just shy of where she really wanted them. He wasn’t cold at all. If anything, his hand felt like a brand on her skin. 

“How naked you willing to get out here? I wanna see you.” he asked, his thumb rubbing in distracting little circles on her thigh and his lips brushing tiny kisses along the neckline of her dress. 

“I know you said we’re not likely to be interrupted, but I don’t want to accidentally give anyone a show, either.” God, she really wanted to get a good look at all of the tightly defined muscles her wandering hands could feel under his shirt, though.

Clint groaned and ran his finger underneath the elastic of her underwear. “You sure you don’t want to go back to the bunkhouse? The walls might be thin, but I’ve got my own room. With a door that closes.”

Darcy sighed and lifted her dress over her head, tossing it to the end of the pickup bed. Whatever, she was only going to be this young and dumb once. “Too far. Your turn.”

She rolled off of him so she could sit back and remove her cowboy boots and when she was done, looked over to see him watching her, looking stunned and horny. He leaned over to kiss her and with a hand around her waist, dragged her down until she was laying flat in the bed of the pickup. He rolled on top of her and she felt his cock hard and hot through his jeans. Darcy tugged on his shirt, pulling it off of him since he wasn’t going to do it himself, and he reluctantly broke their kiss just long enough to get it over his head.

“You are so gorgeous.” He pulled down one of the cups of her bra to expose her nipple and licked a circle around it. “I’m gonna have fucking dreams about this night.”

He sucked on her nipple and rolled the other one between his fingers through the fabric of her bra and Darcy moaned and arched against him, his jeans scraping her thighs. Jesus, they were still wearing so many clothes. She reached down and undid his pants, pushing them impatiently down around his hips until she could grasp his cock in her hand. He felt hot and silky and thick in her hand and her pussy practically ached she wanted it inside of her so bad. 

“Do you have a condom?” she asked. They could still get each other off and have fun doing it if he didn’t, but fuck, she really wanted him inside of her.

“Yeah, I got one. Be patient, we’re not there yet.”

He pulled at the other cup of her bra and Darcy sighed and reached back and unhooked her bra. She could be patient. Probably. 

“God, that is so much better,” he said. 

He paid her second nipple as much attention as the first until Darcy was writhing against him, desperate for friction on her clit. She tried hooking her legs around his hips to bring them closer, but he stubbornly stayed propped above her, just out of reach. She squeezed his cock and scratched her nails down his back.

“Clint, _please_. I swear to god, if I don’t come, I might actually die. Please.”

Not letting up on her nipple at all, he slipped his hand into her panties and _finally_ gave her some relief, his fingers moving in hard, fast circles against her clit. He’d gotten her so worked up, she came in no time at all, arching under his hands and mouth and breathing heavy. His hand slowed, but never stopped, working her through the orgasm until her heart stopped racing, his fingers moving in slow, idle orbits around her clit. 

He kissed her slow and sweet and Darcy placed her hand on his cheek in silent thanks. He wouldn’t be the only one remembering this night fondly and they hadn’t even gotten to the main event yet. His hand sped up on her clit, ever so slightly, and Darcy breathed out a shocked moan. Clint bit down on her lower lip and she dug her nails into the muscles between his shoulder blades. Oh, holy shit, he was going for a double play.

This time took a little longer, but pretty soon she was panting and crying out his name loud enough that anyone nearby would have been able to hear her if it weren’t for the grand finale of the fireworks starting up right at that second. Clint kissed her cheek and her jaw and down her throat while she laughed a little hysterically that he’d actually taken her wanting to feel fireworks to heart. He hovered over her, his face deeply shadowed by the brightness of the fireworks behind him, but she saw enough to be able to read the question in his eyes.

“So you were saying about that condom?” she said.

She saw a flash of teeth as he grinned, then rolled off of her to kick his pants off the rest of the way. He rooted around in the pile of their discarded clothes at their feet and Darcy shoved her panties down to join them. She shivered a little in the night air, but before she could really even process the thought of being cold, Clint was back, covering her with his body and making her feel hot all over.

He pushed inside of her and Darcy let out something between a moan and a sigh. She curled her legs around his hips and met him thrust for thrust. He started out slow, like he wanted to draw it out, but by the way his hips slammed into hers every time she scraped her nails down his side, she didn’t think he was going to be able to hold on very long. She could maybe, _maybe_ come again like this, but he’d have to have the stamina of a steam engine. 

The fireworks ended with one final extra bright, extra loud bang that set off several car alarms in the distance and then they were shrouded in darkness. Clint let out a muttered curse, before he hooked his arm under her knee and started pounding into her hard and fast. She curled her hand around his neck and rubbed her thumb just behind his ear and he turned into it, his breath hot and wet against her wrist. She hiked her other leg up higher around his waist and moaned at the deep angle of the thrust. It felt so good she wished she could come again, but no, it would take forever. 

She squeezed the back of his neck and scraped her nails down his chest, silently urging him on, and Clint let out a choked off moan and came, hips stuttering rapidly against hers before slowing to a stop. He kissed the inside of her wrist and released her leg so he could lean in closer and kiss her for real. 

Darcy raked her fingers through the short, sweat-damp hairs on the back of his head and kissed him back, deep and slow. Maybe if she kissed him slowly enough she could stretch out the minutes before they had to part ways.

They got dressed again quietly, like they could both feel the time slipping away from them, and Darcy curled up under Clint’s arm, their backs propped up against the cab of the truck again. The lights on the ferris wheel and the other rides were on again so the crowds could see their way out to their cars. Darcy shivered despite the heat radiating from Clint. 

“You cold?”

“A little.”

“Here, move over a sec.” He slid the back window of the cab open and pulled out a flannel shirt and handed it to her, then tucked one of the blankets they’d been laying on around her legs. 

The shirt was extra warm from being in his hot truck all day and Darcy curled her fists into the too-long sleeves. She settled back against his side and hummed happily as he ran his hand through her hair.

“So how are you spending the rest of your summer?” he asked, breaking the comfortable silence.

“I have three weeks left cleaning up after slobs at the movie theater and then Jane and I are both headed back to Culver the last week of August. She’s starting her grad program and I’ll be a sophomore.”

His hand stopped moving through her hair. “Where’s Culver? I don’t know that one.”

“Oh, um. It’s in Virginia? In Willowdale.” She was striving for nonchalance but had the feeling she’d missed her mark by several miles and she kept babbling nervously to cover it up. “They have really strong science programs, which I am terrible at. I’m really only going there because our parents wanted me to be near Jane. It was either that or stay in New Mexico and I cannot wait to get out of this place again.”

“I don’t know, it’s not so bad,” he said. “I like the green chiles. And other than that asshole kid from earlier, the people aren’t bad either.” He started playing with her hair again and Darcy smiled into his chest.

“I guess it’s not all bad. I’ve always liked coming to the fair. This year probably beats all the others, though. Not sure I can top it. Might have to just stop going.”

“Well don’t let me ruin a favorite pastime for you.”

Darcy sat up and looked at him. “Oh, you thought I was talking about you? Did I not tell you about the goats? I had a baby goat climb on me at the petting zoo today. Sorry, nothing beats that.”

He opened his mouth and closed it again, clearly not sure what to say to that, and Darcy burst out laughing and kissed him. 

“I’m kidding! Well, not about the goats, that was pretty magical. This still beats them, though.” She held up her fingers a hairsbreadth apart. “Only by like this much, but hey, a win’s a win.”

He rolled his eyes and pulled her against him again. “I’ll take what I can get, I guess.”

They settled into a comfortable silence again for a minute or two, before Clint spoke again. 

“Wait, does that mean _I’m_ magical?”

Darcy poked him in the side and smothered a laugh. “Shut up. Yeah, you’re a wizard, Clint.”

He poked her back and she squealed and lurched away from him, laughing. He cocked an eyebrow at her and did it again, wiggling his finger against her ribs. Darcy screamed with laughter and shoved her fingers into his armpit. He yelped and renewed his attack and pretty soon they were both laughing breathlessly, slumped down in the bed of the truck. Clint had pinned her in place with his leg and had one of her wrists held tight over her head. Their laughter slowed as they both realized what position they were in and Darcy stroked the side of his face with her hand. 

“How much time do we have left?”

“I don’t know, but I set an alarm earlier.”

“You did?” Darcy asked, amused.

“Your future brother-in-law looks like he could murder me with a flick of his wrist and if he doesn’t, your sister could definitely finish the job on rage alone. We’re getting you back on time.”

Darcy sighed. Stupid curfew. She felt like a high schooler again. “Well since it hasn’t gone off yet…”

Clint took the hint and kissed her, gently, like she was something precious. She tried to take things further, but every time she tried to turn their kisses into something dirtier, he backed off and peppered her face and neck with kisses. Finally she relaxed into the slow and soft rhythm he set and enjoyed it for what it was, a few more stolen moments with someone she very well might never see again. 

The alarm on Clint’s phone chimed and they both grumbled as he reached to turn it off. He helped her down from the truck and walked her back to her Jeep, his fingers threaded through hers. Thor and Jane were waiting, sitting on the open back hatch of the car, and they very obviously had had a good time at the beer garden while she was gone.

“You’re here!” Jane crowed happily. “I’m so glad I don’t have to call the cops.” 

“I’m here,” Darcy said unhappily. “You guys wanna get in the car and we’ll get going in a minute?”

Jane rolled her eyes, but let Thor usher her into the backseat and he folded himself in next to her. Darcy closed the hatch and turned back to Clint. He held out his arms and she practically flew into them. They stood there for a moment, all wrapped around each other, before Darcy decided he was just being nice and she had to be the first one to let go. 

“I have to go,” she said into his chest, not loosening her grip at all.

“I know,” he said, and at least he _sounded_ sad about it. 

She finally took a step back, her hands curling into fists around her sleeves before she suddenly realized they weren’t her sleeves at all. “Oh! Your shirt.”

He held out a hand to stop her from unbuttoning it. “Keep it. I’ve got other shirts.”

“Thanks,” she said and lowered her hands.

Darcy looked back over her shoulder at Jane and Thor cuddling in the backseat, then pushed up onto her toes for one last kiss with Clint. His lips were soft and light on hers, but his hands held tight like he didn’t want to let her go. This was it though. Their time together was over. God, this was so unfair.

She rocked back onto her heels and released the fistfuls of his t-shirt she’d grabbed. His hands tightened on her waist briefly before he let her go too and jammed his hands in his pockets.

“Bye, I guess.” 

“Bye, Darcy.”

She turned and walked away, hating every step. In the car, she took one last look at him in the rearview mirror, arms folded across his chest and toes scuffing in the packed dirt of the lot. 

“Let’s go, Darcy,” Jane said, sounding sleepy and drunk.

She started the car and drove away, and when she looked back just as they left the lot, Clint was gone, like he’d never even been there to begin with.

Halfway home, the lights of the other cars a blur on the highway, Darcy’s phone lit up with a text. She shot a look at Jane and Thor, curled up and dozing in the backseat, and risked a glance at the screen. Her heart gave an unsteady leap when she saw it was from Clint.

**Let me know when you get home safe? I had fun with you tonight. Don’t be a stranger.**

Darcy smiled to herself and tightened her hands on the steering wheel, pressing down on the gas a little harder. Sure, she was driving away from him for now, but maybe they were headed somewhere else entirely.

* * *

The crowd cheered as Clint took his final bows of his first show in Richmond. His eyes scanned the crowd one last time, stage smile plastered in place, but there was still no sign of Darcy. He tried to tell himself not to care, but the disappointment still ate at him. She’d promised she’d come, but maybe she didn’t want to see him again after all. ‘Course, if that were true, what was the point of all the texts and late night phone calls? He sighed and tugged off his cowl as soon as he was backstage. He’d at least give her a call. Make sure nothing bad had happened.

He rounded a corner into the makeshift dressing room and stumbled to a halt. There she was, chatting with Natasha, who was still in her knife-thrower’s costume even though she’d been off-stage for an hour now. 

“Look who I found hanging out in the back row,” Natasha said, tilting her head towards Darcy with a smirk that said she knew just how mixed up he was over this girl. 

“You came,” he said, reaching for her. Why the fuck was he still holding his bow? He threw it down carelessly but Darcy bypassed his hand entirely and wrapped her arms around him, tucking her head under his chin. He cradled the back of her head and held her close, half-afraid she’d disappear if he let her go again. 

“I said I would,” she said, her voice muffled against his chest. “I got here late, though. Traffic was worse than I expected and Jane needed the car to take Thor to the airport. It was a whole thing.”

Clint kissed the top of her head and mouthed a silent thank you to Natasha, who rolled her eyes but smiled at the two of them indulgently and disappeared through a curtain. He’d been nervous about the two of them meeting, sure he’d screw it up somehow, so he was glad it happened without him around to put his foot in his mouth.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said to Darcy. “You see any of the show?”

“Yeah, Natasha brought me back here so I could get a better view.” She tilted her head back to look at him and seeing her smile in person was so much better than over Facetime. “I stand by my original assessment. Archers are hot.”

“Yeah? I’m into political science majors myself. You know any of those?”

“Dork,” she said fondly, then pulled him down for a kiss.

They fit together so perfectly he couldn’t believe it’d been 27 long days since he last kissed her. He didn’t know what was going to happen after the carnival’s four weeks in Richmond were up, but he planned to make today and every day he got with her count.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please don't forget to leave a kudos, or you can really make my day and leave a comment.
> 
> You can also reblog it on Tumblr, [here](https://taserhawk.tumblr.com/post/613772455582056448/clintdarcy-thrilled-by-the-still-of-your-hand).


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